The present invention relates generally to improving metal, wood and plastic tennis rackets. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved tennis racket structure in which composite materials are utilized in combination with these conventional frame structures to provide an improved tennis racket having increased strength, better play characteristics and resistance to breakage.
There is presently a wide variety of tennis rackets available to today's tennis player. These tennis rackets are made from various different materials and are available in numerous different sizes, weights and configurations. Typically, tennis rackets are made from wood, metal, various strong plastics and more recently from resin impregnated composite fiber material.
Metal tennis rackets are generally made from lightweight metals such as aluminum and aluminum alloys. Typically, the metal is formed into strong tubular structures having various cross-sectional configurations designed for strength. The racket is made by bending or otherwise suitably shaping the tube into the desired racket shape. Oversized holes are then provided in the head portion of the racket through which the racket strings are passed for mounting. In order to prevent cutting of the nylon or gut stringing by contact with the metal frame over a period of time, plastic grommet strips are inserted into the oversized holes to provide a suitable mounting surface for the racket strings. In addition, one or more plastic throat pieces or cross-member supports are provided between the metal tubes in the neck portion of the racket. These plastic support pieces are either riveted or held by screws to each side of the frame. In addition, a plastic frontcap must be provided to seal or support the members used to form the handle.
Tubular metal racket frames have experienced popularity since they are relatively inexpensive to manufacture and provide a lightweight, strong tennis racket.
Even though tubular metal frame rackets are well suited for their intended purpose, they do have some inherent undesirable characteristics. Tennis players in general have acknowledged that these disadvantages include high shock and vibration transmission, lack of control when tennis ball hits are slightly off center, and in addition the rackets provide a general harsh feel which tends to aggravate common tennis injuries such as tennis elbow. In addition, the plastic components of the metal frames are subject to breakage thereby reducing racket life.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved metal tennis racket frame which eliminates the plastic grommet strip and plastic throat members, further, it would be desirable to provide an improved racket structure which attenuates shock and vibration transmission to reduce the harsh feel of the racket structure.